NHL Best Bets Today: Expert Picks for Wednesday, December 11

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Published on December 11, 2024

NHL Best Bets Tonight: Expert NHL Picks for
Wednesday, Dec. 10

The National Hockey League has just two games on tap Wednesday night, but that's quite enough for a parlay or two. The New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres drop the puck at 7 p.m. ET, and the game can be viewed or streamed on TNT, truTV or Max, while the Anaheim Ducks and Ottawa Senators meet at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN+. Let's get started.

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Best NHL Picks Tonight

New York Rangers at Buffalo Sabres

The New York Rangers (14-12-1) look to snap out of their funk at KeyBank Center on the road against the Buffalo Sabres (11-13-4).

The Rangers suffered a 2-1 loss against the Chicago Blackhawks in an Original Six battle at Madison Square Garden on Monday night. New York (-235) was a heavy favorite, but they disappointed as the Under (6) came in. That's back-to-back losses, as the Blueshirts lost a 7-5 shootout against the visiting Seattle Kraken Sunday.

Going all the way back to Nov. 21, the Rangers are 2-8-0, and it's a good reason why Jacob Trouba was shipped out, and why the team has announced players like Chris Kreider and some others are on the trade block.

For the Sabres, they were on the short end of a 6-5 shootout loss Monday against the Detroit Red Wings as the Over (6.5) easily came through. Buffalo is skidding, too, going 0-4-3 in the past seven outings, good for just three out of a possible 14 points.

Igor Shesterkin (9-10-1, 2.95 GAA, .910 SV%, 1 SO) is likely to get the starting nod, while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (8-7-3, 2.82 GAA, .902 SV%, 1 SO) is expected to go for the home side. How many people had UPL with a better win percentage and GAA than Shesty two weeks prior to Christmas?

The Sabres have been a thorn in the side of the Rangers in recent seasons, too, going 4-1-1 in the past six tries against the Blueshirts since March 31, 2023. Five of the past eight meetings have ended up going to overtime or a shootout, and seven of the past 10 meetings have been decided by a single goal.

As short 'dogs at home, Buffalo is worth a roll of the dice, and let's go high.

Sabres ML (+120 at DraftKings Sportsbook)
Over 6 (-110 at BetMGM Sportsbook)

Anaheim Ducks at Ottawa Senators

The Anaheim Ducks (10-12-4) and Ottawa Senators (12-13-2) hook up at the Canadian Tire Centre at 7:30 p.m. ET.

The teams just met 10 days ago in Southern California with the Ducks edging the Senators 4-3 in a shootout as moderate underdogs (+140) at home as the Over (6) cashed. Anaheim swept the regular-season series in 2023-24, too, outscoring Ottawa 7-2. That includes a 5-1 win in Canada's capital city as heavy underdogs (+190) on Feb. 15, 2024.

In fact, Anaheim has won seven of the past nine meetings in this series since before even COVID, as the stretch goes back to Feb. 4, 2020.

Ottawa was doubled up 4-2 last time out against the visiting New York Islanders in the second half of a back-to-back behind Anton Forsberg. The team will almost certainly be going back to Linus Ullmark (7-7-2, 2.81 GAA, .898 SV%, 1 SO) for this home matchup. Ullmark was in between the crease for the SOL in SoCal, stopping 31 of 34 shots.

Anaheim is expected to hand the keys to Lukas Dostal (6-7-3, 2.67 GAA, .921 SV%, 1 SO) for this matchup. Dostal turned aside 28 of the 31 shots he faced in the SOW at home against the Sens.

Frank Vatrano and Brady Tkachuk exchanged power-play goals in that first matchup, and both players lit the lamp twice, while Troy Terry set a career high with three assists, and he scored in the shootout. Another note, Anaheim scored first against Ottawa in the first meeting, the last time they did so. It is 9-4-3 this season when scoring first.

It's hard to ignore Anaheim's dominance in this series, and with Ottawa cashing the Over 5-2-1 in the past eight games, including the most recent meeting with Anaheim, let's go high. And we'll back the Ducks on the puck line catching a goal and a half, just for a little insurance.

Ducks PL (+1.5, -120 at BetMGM Sportsbook)
Over 6.5 Goals (+110 at FanDuel Sportsbook)

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